Pandante is a light-hearted, Panda-themed gambling game with an emphasis on lying. Players lie about their hands all the time, and that's half the fun. It's also suitable to play for real money and has a higher skill ceiling than Human Poker. (Yes, really!)

It's a little bit like the Human Poker game Texas Hold'em, but you get to improve your hand with "snacks" cards, lie about your hand, and cause mischief with a few simple abilities. You don't have to fold nearly as much as in Human Poker, and there's no Panda-elimination either, so everyone can play the whole time.

New Stuff, Simpler Rules, and Faster Gameplay

This expansion adds tons of content to the game while simplifying the base game. There are now fewer rules than the earlier version of the game, and it's faster to teach and faster to play (here's a summary of what's different). You can choose how much complexity you want by mixing and matching the many new game modes such as Casino cards, Panda Champions, Diamond Dreams mode, and the Light & Dark abilities.

If you're new to Pandante, the new base sets have all the expansion content built right in!

If you're into a fun social game like this, or a hardcore gambler, please help make this new version of Pandante a reality. I've been enjoying all this new content and revised rules for several months now, and I think you will too.

--David Sirlin

Quick note on FLASH DUEL. That's a totally different game of mine, and it's been out of print for months. You can also pledge for a new revised printing of it on this kickstarter. And now back to Pandante. :)

Codex-themed Pandante deck

Codex is an upcoming customizable (not collectable) card game that does things very differently from the rest of the genre. It's themed after RTS video games such as Starcraft and Warcraft 3. While it's not released yet, this kickstarter gives you the option of getting a limited-edition Pandante deck that has Codex artwork.

STRETCH GOALS

All backers (of the $25 level or above) get three extra Pandante casino cards that won't appear in the retail version.

$60k. A Zane "Purple 6" card you can use to cheat in Flash Duel. (for kickstarter backers only, of everyone who added Flash Duel to their pledge. Will not be in the retail box.)

$65k. A new character "G.Panda" in Flash Duel (for kickstarter backers only, of everyone who added Flash Duel to their pledge. Will not be in the retail box.)

Help Make This Game a Reality

It's really expensive to produce the deluxe version of this game, so I'm taking it to kickstarter to make that possible. The components of that version are just fantastic, and I really want all this new content to come in one box for those who want that high end experience. If we raise enough money, we can make those components even better, too.

And no matter which version of the game you're interested in, I just really want to get all this new content out there. It's been tons of fun to develop and playtest. I think it adds a whole new dimension to Pandante because there's just so much variety in all these modes. I think the Casino cards are my favorite part.

Oh, and here's the rulebook, which applies to both the expansion and new base sets.

If you tried Pandante before but thought there were too many fiddly rules, I urge you to give this update a chance. It plays so much faster than before that it just feels great! Thank you for considering backing it.

Flash Duel 2nd Edition is another game of mine, and it's been out of print for several months. We'll do a revised printing at the same time as the new Pandante print run, so we can ship this to you at the same time if you're interested.

Flash Duel is a quick game for 1 to 5 players where the Fantasy Strike characters spar with each other, and with the powerful Deathstrike Dragon, in preparation for an upcoming tournament. This revised printing features:

• A new rulebook (here) which makes the game less mathy and more about improv and bluffing. You don't know the exact contents of the deck anymore, so you can't compute things so completely. Also, you now draw more cards each round, so you have more chance to win before timeout.• The "last hits" mechanic is removed, to simplify the rules and make the game more about trying to win before timeout happens.• All game modes now use 40 numbered cards, rather than different modes using 25, 40, and 50 numbered cards.• All cards and rules now gender-neutral ("their" instead of "his").• Many abilities edited or rewritten to be clearer how they work or how they interact with other abilities.• Many balance changes.

1) Press the 'Manage Your Pledge' button above. If you have not pledged yet, it will say 'Back this Project.'

2) Increase your pledge in the 'Pledge Amount' box by $40 for Flash Duel, plus another $14 for shipping if you're in Canada or the EU, or another $18 in shipping if you're in any other non-US country. (Free shipping in the US.)

3) After the end of the Kickstarter campaign, you'll receive a survey that will ask you what you really pledged for. Be sure to tell us what you should get on there, so we can make sure to get you the right stuff!

Other-Add-ons:

We are now using Backer Kit to support even more add-ons. You'll receive a Backer Kit invite around two weeks after the campaign to confirm your add-ons and to add shipping for international backers. For now, just add the following amounts for anything you want to add (multiples are ok to add, too)

Customs-Friendly

This kickstarter is customs-friendly, which means we'll do our best to reduce or eliminate VAT and import fees for international backers. We can't actually promise to eliminate these, nor can we break laws by incorrectly declaring the value of shipments, but we'll be using Ship Naked's shipping network to reduce the VAT and import fees for as many international backers as we can. This should be especially helpful to European backers.

Risks and challenges

I've done three kickstarters before, all three on time. With this game, just like those, the game design, graphics, rules, and packaging design are already pretty much set at the time of the campaign, which really minimizes our risks.

New types of components are one kind of risk. In this case, main new component is a 2" metal coin. The samples look fantastic, as you can see in the updates so .

On all my previous kickstarters, the biggest problem has actually been freight shipping delays. There are many factors there, all outside my control. The best I could do was guess at how long it would take if things didn't go my way. In all three cases, it ended up being a near worst-case scenario with shipping, but I STILL shipped on time because the original estimate was planning for the worst. To put it another way, the biggest risk here has to do with things being like a month late, as opposed to the game not functioning or being manufactured poorly, etc.

Also regarding shipping, this is the first time I'll be doing customs-friendly shipping. The team at Ship Naked has handled all my shipping for years and has done extremely well at it, so I'm pretty confident they can handle this well, reducing or eliminating VAT for most customers (but we can't actually promise anything here, just that it should be an overall improvement for most backers). Ship Naked has already coordinated this type of shipping for dozens of other kickstarters.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $65 or more
About $65

PANDANTE DELUXE VERSION *WITHOUT* CHIPS

This is the 2nd Edition deluxe version of Pandante, but without any poker chips. It's for backers who already have poker chips from the 1st Edition of Pandante.

The deluxe version has a bigger board than the basic version, a premium dealer button, and a very nice box. (See stretch goals for other component differences). This is the 2nd Edition set and it includes all expansion content.

(To add Flash Duel (revised printing), add $40 to your pledge, plus another $14 in shipping for Canada or the EU, or $18 in shipping for any other non-US country.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $125 or more
About $125

PANDANTE DELUXE VERSION

The deluxe version comes with professional grade clay chips, a bigger board than the basic version, a premium dealer button, and a very nice box. (See stretch goals for other component differences). This is the 2nd Edition set and it includes all expansion content.

(To add Flash Duel (revised printing), add $40 to your pledge, plus another $14 in shipping for Canada or the EU, or $18 in shipping for any other non-US country.)

Pledge $140 or more
About $140

You get deluxe Pandante 2nd Edition (including all expansion content), but it does not contain any poker chips. This is for backers who already have poker chips from the 1st Edition of Pandante.

You also get the reprint of Flash Duel PLUS a very special limited edition Codex-themed Pandante deck. Codex is an upcoming customizable card game that does things very differently than the rest of the genre. You'll get a Pandante deck featuring beautiful art from Codex and you'll be supporting the development of that game too. We hope you treasure this rare collector's item!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

You get deluxe Pandante 2nd Edition (including all expansion content), the reprint of Flash Duel PLUS a very special limited edition Codex-themed Pandante deck. Codex is an upcoming customizable card game that does things very differently than the rest of the genre. You'll get a Pandante deck featuring beautiful art from Codex and you'll be supporting the development of that game too. We hope you treasure this rare collector's item!